


Cuff Notes

by methylviolet10b



Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Humor, Silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-04-07 22:14:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4279866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/methylviolet10b/pseuds/methylviolet10b
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mrs Hudson noticed the notes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cuff Notes

**Author's Note:**

> Written for JWP #5: Note to Self. Anything from a pencil jot on a paper cuff or a string on a finger to a modern sticky note or a cell phone alarm. Doesn't matter who the writer is, so long as there's something he/she needs a reminder for.
> 
> Warnings: Fairly pointless fluff. And absolutely no beta. This was written in a huge rush. You have been warned.

The first time she saw the penciled notes, Mrs Hudson wondered if her still-ailing tenant was more ill than she had thought. Bad enough that the doctor was jotting down words on his shirt cuffs – a most untidy habit for a gentleman – but such strange, random words!  
“I beg your pardon, Mrs Hudson,” Doctor Watson said when she mentioned it to him. “I was taking notes for one of Holmes’ cases, and I had no paper to hand. It’s a bad habit left over from my medical school days, one I picked up again on the march when I was in the Army. I’ll try not to let it happen again.”  
  
Mrs Hudson took him at his word, somewhat relieved at such a mundane explanation. And yet it kept happening at random times. As she grew to know her tenants better, Mrs Hudson realized two things.  
  
One, Doctor Watson was far more prone to writing on his shirt-cuffs when he was under some kind of strain, physical or emotional, and most prone to it when he was running short on funds. Seeing notes for a week running was a tell-tale that she’d better look sharp if she wanted to receive her rent on time. A few words here and there – nothing blatant, always gentle – to Doctor Watson, and to Mr Holmes too, did wonders, as did making some of the Doctor’s favorite meals. A full stomach seemed key to keeping Doctor Watson on a more even keel, physically and financially.  
  
And two, when she saw genuinely strange words or phrases on the shirt cuffs, it was well worth her time to take a tea-tray up herself with a plate of the Doctor’s favorite biscuits, and give him a little encouragement to chat. More often than not she would find herself invited to sit down. Once he saw her comfortably ensconced in a chair, sipping on a cup of her own tea and nibbling on a biscuit, Doctor Watson would start to speak. Without fail, Mrs Hudson would be vastly entertained by the latest adventure to inspire Doctor Watson to write, whether that was one of Mr Holmes’ more exciting cases, or the absurdities of one of Doctor Watson’s patients.  The man had a genuine gift for storytelling.  
  
And the chance to hear the real truths behind the tales that eventually wound up in the magazines and the journal articles, the tibits that never made it into publication – well, that was well worth the trouble of scrubbing out a few graphite stains.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted July 5, 2015


End file.
